Stamp Duty changes revealed - So What?
Hopes were high over the summer that the Government’s response to the housing market slump would be bold. The spin doctors were even hinting that all sorts of exciting things might happen to Stamp Duty... albeit leading to complaints from Estate Agents that sales were falling through as buyers waited to see what these were.
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Don't let the Credit Crunch ruin Xmas
Families feeling the financial pinch needn't spend a fortune to make Christmas special this year. The rising cost of living may leave some feeling like this Christmas could be a washout but there is an array of affordable and even free things to do to keep a family amused this festive season it has been claimed.
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The Economy: How to fix it?
My husband, harrumphing from his armchair, seems to know how to fix the broken UK economy. So do his friends, a guy we met in the pub as well as most London taxi drivers. If that’s the case why can’t the Government do it then?
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Is the credit crunch causing the school squeeze?
There's no such thing as a free lunch, especially if it's a school dinner, new research suggests.
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Stamp Duty: Scrap, Suspend or Defer?
The current mortgage famine and property slump is causing another major headache for the Government. While most of us take our summer breaks, junior ministers, aides and advisors will be burning the midnight oil trying to identify ways to boost the market... without hitting Treasury coffers to hard.
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Mortgages: Government bailing out or copping out?
A common view of market economies is that state intervention needs to be subtle. Arguably, since the Credit Crunch (reaching its first birthday) this hasn’t been the case. Look at Northern Rock (I know you probably rather wouldn’t, but bear with me), where the Government (or rather the tax-payer) propped up a financial institution that had made profound mistakes. The Rock made its bed and we’re all lying in it. As was said at the time, the New Labour administration was privatising profit but nationalising failure.
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